Something More This Time
by istytehcrawk
Summary: Kurt's coming around, but he has reservations. Reaction ficlet for 4x21, based on where I think Kurt's head is by the end of the episode.


**Author's note:** Listening to Pandora at work today, I heard a song that I felt completely fit what I think is Kurt's headspace at the end of 4x21, and I just had to write a ficlet to go with it. The song is David Gray's This Year's Love, which I'd never heard before today.

* * *

The text came during lunch, when Blaine was sitting on a bench outside the school with Marley, munching on an apple while helping her decide which of her songs would stand the best chance at Regionals.

**Kurt: **Can you come over to dad's after glee practice? We need to talk.

**Blaine: **Did I do something wrong?

**Kurt: **No, not at all. Can you come?

**Blaine: **Wouldn't miss it for the world.

Try as he might, Blaine couldn't concentrate on anything for the rest of the day. Thankfully, there was a substitute in his calculus class, so they basically got an extra study hall. The same couldn't be said for his English class, unfortunately. He probably bombed the pop quiz, but his grade was high enough to withstand the hit, even though Mrs. Fischer would probably pull him aside the next day to question him about it. Maybe she'd let him retake it, but Blaine couldn't find it in himself to care if she didn't. Kurt was in town and wanted to talk, and it didn't seem to be about anything bad, so he couldn't find it in himself to care about much at all, really. Just Kurt.

He forced himself to concentrate on glee, though, because he had promised Marley he'd help her teach the rest of the New Directions the lyrics to the song they'd chosen, if Mr. Schuester approved it – and he had, with surprisingly little resistance. In a way, he was glad to have the distraction from his distraction.

Driving over to the Hummels' house after practice, Blaine wracked his brain, trying to figure out what Kurt might want to talk about. He knew what he wanted Kurt to say, of course, but he tried not to get his hopes up. He failed miserably, and by the time he arrived he had nearly worked himself up into thinking that Kurt was about to propose to _him_. His knock was greeted by a warm hug from Carole, who handed him a glass of lemonade with a few raspberries at the bottom, just like he liked it, and sent him to the back porch, where Kurt was waiting, perched on the edge with his back against a pillar.

Blaine took a similar position against the pillar opposite Kurt, danging one leg off the side of the porch while taking a sip of his lemonade. "You wanted to talk?"

Kurt chuckled. "Oh, so we're going to get right to it, then."

"Might as well, don't you think?"

Kurt took a deep breath. "Okay." When he didn't continue, Blaine started to say something, but he didn't even get a syllable out before Kurt shook his head. "Let me get this out, please. Without interrupting." Blaine nodded, gesturing for him to go on.

"You hurt me, Blaine." Blaine's expression immediately shifted from hopeful to devastated, and Kurt could see the beginnings of wetness in his eyes, so he gave Blaine a small smile before continuing.

"No, Blaine, listen. I know I'm not completely faultless in this whole situation, but you broke my heart, and you betrayed my trust, and you completely _shattered_ my faith in us. It took months for me to be even remotely okay again, but...I'm there now. I've come to terms with it, and I've forgiven you." He chuckled, _almost_ too quietly for Blaine to hear. "Do you know _when_ I realized I'd completely forgiven you?" Blaine shook his head. "Yesterday."

"What?"

"When you asked me to stay for Regionals, I was _really_ hoping you were going to ask me on a date."

Blaine nearly choked on his sip of lemonade and quickly set the glass down on the porch next to him. "I...I...yeah. I thought about it." Okay, so that wasn't _exactly_ what he had been planning to ask, but there was no way he was going to tell Kurt _that_, especially considering he'd realized he had forgotten the small detail of having an engagement ring to go with the question. "Do you—"

"Blaine, I'm not done."

"Okay..."

"Being around you the last few days, holding hands in the Lima Bean and singing together and all that, it felt _right_, but I can't just jump straight back in without complete assurance that I'm never going to face that kind of heartbreak again. If there's even a remote chance that you'll stray again, I don't want to even try."

Blaine scrambled to his knees and crossed the distance to Kurt, grabbing his hand and holding it in his lap. "Kurt, I swear, I will _never_ hurt you like that again. I'd rather die. You have my word."

Kurt smiled, gaze focused on their joined hands. "Good, because if I'm going to let myself fall back into this – I'd say back in love, but we both know I never stopped loving you – I _have_ to know that you're in it for the long haul. I don't want you to wake up in six months or five years or forty years and realize you don't want to be with me anymore. If I'm going to get back together with you, I want it to be forever."

"It will be."


End file.
